There may be a few of you who remember the television show Scrubs. Or maybe you've watched reruns via syndication. (That's a photo of the main cast members up top).
Scrubs starred Zach Braff as JD and ran for nine seasons.
The show followed a group of interns through their first years at Sacred Heart Hospital.
Scrubs, created by Bill Lawrence, was masterfully written and featured an amazing group of actors. Throughout its run, the show attracted guest stars the likes of Keri Russell, Brandon Fraser, Heather Graham, John Ritter, Colin Farrell, Michael J. Fox, Aziz Ansari, Masi Oka and Tom Cavanagh.
Recently I've been watching some of the seasons I missed.
What immediately comes to mind is the sheer creativity of the show. The writing, the cinematography, the music. It was all superb. There are only a handful of television series that have lasted as long as Scrubs did. In terms of ensemble performance, Scrubs set the bar very high.
But, upon re-examination, one thing also stands out. How the show's characters treated their sexuality.
There is hardly an episode where one of the main characters isn't having sex with someone. To say that the sex is casual is an understatement. In the world of Scrubs, sex is offered freely, without much thought and without many consequences.
The only exceptions to this rule are the relationships between the characters of Turk and Carla, who eventually get married. As do JD and Elliott.
I don't watch current network or cable television, but I'm willing to bet that the handling of sex nowadays is even more casual. To the point that getting physically intimate with another person has no inherent meaning. So sex is primarily portrayed as a byproduct of lust.
And I have to wonder: To what extent is real life imitating art?
If the purpose of art is to influence and reflect our culture, isn't our soul impacted by it?
In the movie "Old Fashioned," Clay (the main male character) at one point asks: "Since when did treating love like it's something sacred become a joke?"
It's a perfectly valid and extremely brave question. (Kudos to Rik Swartzwelder, who wrote the screenplay for Old Fashioned and directed and starred as Clay.)
Which brings us to...
Recently David Bowie passed away.
For decades he was a major influence on the music scene. And whether you were a fan or not, the fact that he was a major innovator couldn't be denied.
Outwardly, he appeared, during a portion of his career, to be androgynous.
Privately, in interviews, Bowie confessed that, looking back, the sexual part of his personality was more attached to a stage persona than to a particular sexual identity.
But again, the question of how a person handles their sexuality and what message it gives comes into play.
Which leaves a person to think: If we take our view of sex from the current cultural standard, there's a good chance we'll wind up confused and deeply hurt.*
What if sex really does have a spiritual dimension?
And if so, does the Bible have anything to say on the subject?
Not surprisingly, yes.
In a nutshell the Bible:
- advocates monogamy (Prov. 6:28-29)
- says to steer clear of sexual immorality (1 Corn. 6.18, 1 Thess. 4.3)
- asks followers of God's Son to be willing to reach out to the 'lost' among the current culture, without engaging in their sexual behavior (1 Corn. 5.9-11)
It's a tall order, but where there is no standard, history is rife with examples of human nature's tendency to fall to the lowest common denominator.
What do you think? I welcome your thoughts!
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*Interestingly, Bowie released his last video, Lazarus, days before he passed away. The video begins with Bowie wrapped up in bandages on a surgical bed. Half-way through he appears as himself. There is a definite allusion to life-after-death. Bowie sings, "Look up here, I'm in heaven..." Which leads a person to wonder where his heart was, spiritually.
Here's a link to Bowie's performance during the Concert for New York (a tribute concert held a few weeks after 9/11 in New York City. It features an absolutely haunting rendition of Paul Simon's America, as well as Bowie's own Heroes.
www.elmoremagazine.com
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